The BIG Anxiety Project

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NIEA, in collaboration with the Black Dog Institute is presenting an interactive event on The BIG Anxiety Project at VIVID Ideas. Featuring the team of arts and mental health experts behind the BIG Anxiety Project -Jill Bennett ,Katherine Boydell, George Khut, along with Dawn-Joy Leong, Milissa Deitz and Katrina Sandbach, Amanda Gordon, Ella Dreyfuss, Vanessa Bartlett and host Julie McCrossin, it will explore our experiences with anxiety: how it feels, how we manage it, and what we think might reduce it.

The BIG Anxiety Project is an innovative citizen science venture developing creative approaches to health research and data visualisation.

For this Vivid Ideas event, the team will be using live online surveys and social media feeds to generate live infographics visualizing emerging themes and connections - and artists will discuss how they contribute to research in mental health.

Live online surveys and social media feeds will be used to generate info-graphics in real time that help visualise what anxiety feels like for different people. NIEA and Black Dog researchers will use algorithms to extract data from the surveys and feeds (using #anxietyfeelslike and following Twitter @thebiganxiety).

Dr George Khut will present his award-winning projects that use bio-feedback to design methods of stress reduction. Artist, Dr Dawn Joy Leong, who recently completed a PhD with Prof Jill Bennett will use creative techniques to explore the experience of anxiety and to create more relaxing spaces for people with autism.

The collection of research for The Big Anxiety Project – which begins with VIVID– will culminate in the Anxiety Festivalin 2017. It is anticipated that the meeting of artists, designers, creative thinkers, mental health experts and the wider community through forums such as these will bring about a framework for ideas and solutions.